Kresher Capital LLC is creating a footprint in Denver’s LoDo and RiNo neighborhoods, completing three acquisitions totaling $13.5 million within 45 days.

Kresher closed on properties at 1720 Wynkoop and 3001 Walnut at the end of 2012 and is set to close on a property at 3012 Huron in the coming weeks.

The most notable of the deals was the acquisition of commercial retail totaling $7.1 million at 1720 Wynkoop. The units front Union Station and include tenants such as Venice, Morton’s Steakhouse, The Salon and Paradise Cleaners.

Another notable acquisition was done with Epic Brewing Co. The Salt Lake City microbrewery signed a lease with Kresher Capital, concurrently purchasing the building and allowing the brewery to expand into Colorado. Epic signed a 20,000-square-foot lease and plans for production and distribution, as well as a tap room at the location.

Kresher says it will close soon on a fully leased, 29,000-square-foot office property at 3012 Huron in the Prospect Park neighborhood. The property includes adjoining parking spaces.

Ryan Arnold, vice president with Jones Lang LaSalle’s Denver team, represented Kresher in the acquisition of 3012 Huron and was instrumental in the closing of 3001 Walnut.

Kresher — a private, equity investment group focused on real estate lending and acquisition opportunities which has offices in Colorado, Florida and New York — said it hopes to continue growing its Colorado market share.

“Kresher is continually looking to expand its real estate acquisition and lending business in Colorado,” said Kresher’s Patrick Dunn. “We are happy with the risk-adjusted returns offered in the Colorado marketplace as evident from the performance of both our lending and direct investment platforms.

“We are very excited about investment opportunities in certain metro areas, and Denver is right at the top. Kresher fully expects to substantially expand our lending business in conjunction with closing on opportunistic real estate investments in the Denver area over the coming years.”

Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill, a Denver-based fast casual restaurant, will hold the grand opening of its Denver West location on Friday (Dec. 7).

The new restaurant, located at 14740 W. Colfax Ave. in Lakewood in the new Promenade at Denver West development, is the company’s 16th to open in Colorado and the 18th nationwide.

“We have had our sights set on opening in the Denver West community for some time now,” said Alon Mor, founder, president and CEO of Garbanzo. “With an ideal location near major shopping centers and business parks, we are expected to provide those who live and work in the area with a convenient, healthy and fresh Mediterranean option.”

The new location, just west of Colorado Mills, is holding a fundraising dinner for Denver CASA, a nonprofit that recruits, trains and supports volunteers to represent the best interests of abused and neglected children in the Denver Juvenile Courts. The fundraiser is set for Thursday (Dec. 6) from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., with a suggested donation of $5.

On grand opening day, guests have the opportunity to win free Garbanzo menu items and other prices, including Garbanzo tote bags, T-shirts and gift cards.

Following the grand opening, the store is holding several giveaways all month long, from an electronic reader to a bicycle. For more information about the giveaways and how to enter, visit the company’s Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/GarbanzoMedGrill.

The new Drive office building in Zeppelin Development’s Taxi complex in River North has opened and is fully leased.

The 38,000-square-foot, four-story structure includes a mix of creative high-tech firms, with Boa Technology — maker of the award-winning, patented Boa Closure System — occupying nearly two-thirds of the building.

The building is a collaboration between Zeppelin, lead designer Stephen Dynia Architects and the architect of record, Barker Rinker Seacat — both of which are Taxi-based businesses.

Zeppelin calls Drive the furthest evolution of the overall Taxi project, with a more democratic format than virtually any other office building in the market. Small, dynamic firms are located on the top and lower floors, with Boa located in between.

The building includes 53 operating glass garage doors, which afford tenants an open-air work environment with natural light and views, and an 80-foot skylight with corresponding glass floors that transmit sunlight throughout the building from the rooftop.

Other tenants include a hair and nail salon, sandwich counter and coffee shop.

Crystal Rose owner Jay Byerly has signed a lease to operate Brittany Hill and will reopen the long-shuttered restaurant and event venue in January.

Crystal Rose — which already has two locations in Golden, one in southeast Denver, one in Littleton and a franchise in Colorado Springs — specializes in weddings and receptions but also handles corporate events, fundraisers, banquets and birthday and anniversary parties.

Byerly said Friday he plans to hire 40 to 50 employees, most of them part time, and already has a manager for the new facility, to be called Crystal Rose at Brittany Hill. He already has seven full-time employees and about 250 part-time workers.

He is taking reservations now for events beginning in January at the new location, and he also hopes to begin serving a Sunday brunch, which was a popular attraction of the original Brittany Hill.

Brittany Hill, featuring a panoramic view of the Denver area from its perch above Interstate 25 in Thornton, opened in 1981. It was the site of countless wedding receptions, anniversaries and graduations and was a favorite spot for romantic dinners and corporate meetings before closing in 2006.

The 17,200-square-foot facility had an abortive “grand reopening” on Nov. 17. Anaheim, Calif.-based Specialty Restaurants Corp. scheduled the event but had to cancel on short notice because of an issue with the city. Some fans of Brittany Hill showed up, only to be met with a closed, dark restaurant.

“It made us look real bad, but we had nothing to do with it,” Byerly said. “They scheduled it before we signed the lease.

“Crystal Rose has been doing private events for 25 years. If I tell you this is going to happen, I promise it will.”

Byerly said his crews continue to paint and clean and should soon finish renovating the kitchen.

He said his existing venues can comfortably accommodate between 150 and 325 people, while Brittany Hill has room for almost 900 people.

Byerly, whose firm does up to 700 events a year, said he still gets excited driving up the road to Brittany Hill.

“Looking at that castle, it’s like Disney World,” he said. “I was blown away. It’s so isolated. When we get a chance in the spring to put in great landscaping, it will really be awesome.”

Sir Richard’s Condom Co. of Boulder announced Thursday the delivery of 500,000 condoms to the Partners in Health warehouse in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

The KORE condoms will be made available for free at PIH clinics, including the Mirebalais National Teaching Hospital, built by PIH in collaboration with Haiti’s Ministry of Health. The hospital, scheduled to open in 2013, will emphasize women’s health and reproductive support.

Sir Richard’s chief executive Jim Moscou said the shipment arrived in Haiti on Sept. 11 but essentially had been sitting in customs because of delays and red tape until this week.

It is the first formal delivery of condoms by Sir Richard’s to a developing country. For every condom sold, Sir Richard’s has pledged to donate a condom to a developing country in an attempt to combat HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.

Besides addressing a worldwide shortage of condoms, Moscou said Sir Richard’s has delivered a product and brand that is culturally relevant to Haitians in hopes of promoting usage. KORE — pronounced kor-ay — is a slang term that translates as “I have your back.”

“Knowing KORE has arrived and is now in the good hands of Partners in Health is an incredible moment for all of us at Sir Richard’s,” Moscou said. “We’ve taken the first step in accomplishing what we dared — to prove the power of business can be used to help promote global health.”

Moscou hinted that Sir Richard’s next donation would be even bigger. “We’re looking at seven figures,” he said, without disclosing the destination.

Sir Richard’s will begin launching its products in the United Kingdom the week of Dec. 9. They’ll be in Whole Foods Markets/London and other retailers by Jan. 1.

Added Moscou: “We’re up for a major design award there on Dec. 12 for best young company.”

It’s inevitable: every time my out-of-state friends visit Colorado they want to visit microbreweries. For craft beer fanatics, Colorado has become a prime destination for their beer-tasting pilgrimages.

Frontier Airlines, the “hometown carrier,” is seeking to harness state pride by taking this artisanal specialty to the skies.[media-credit name=”handout” align=”alignright” width=”270″][/media-credit]

The airline will offer a new Colorado microbrew every three months on all flights that originate in Denver.

“We’ve had a really big push for putting Colorado products on-board,” said Lindsey Carpenter, spokeswoman for Frontier. “Blue Moon, Fat Tire, and Coors Light have always done really well, but we wanted to give some of the smaller breweries a chance to be onboard.”

Frontier announced today the winner of its second round –Dale’s Pale Ale by Oskar Blues Brewery.

The Promenade Shops at Centera in Loveland received no bids at a foreclosure auction Wednesday, so the shopping center went back to the bank.

A group of banks led by Key Bank purchased the 700,000-square-foot shopping center at the northwest corner of Interstate 25 and U.S. Highway 34 for nearly $85 million.

Centerra Lifestyle Center, a partnership between Loveland-based developer
McWhinney and Poag & McEwen of Memphis, Tenn., still owes the bank the deficiency amount of $32 million.

“The property itself continues to perform and year-over-year sales are better,” said John Shaw, president of McWhinney. “It continues to be a real asset for Centerra. We’re just not at a point where we can share what we’re trying to do.”

The new natural- and organic-foods market rounds out a 392,100-square-foot shopping center that is already home to a Super Target, Barnes & Noble, World Market, Michael’s and Office Max.

Sunflower is expected to open its new store this fall. Thorncreek Crossing is at the intersection of Washington and 120th Avenue.

Sunflower has 30 retail stores throughout Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Texas. It was one of five companies selected this year for the International Council of Shopping Centers’ Hot Retailer Award.

Emilie Rusch covers retail and commercial real estate for The Post. A Wisconsin native and Mizzou graduate, she moved to Colorado in 2012. Before that, she worked at a small daily newspaper in South Dakota. It's the one with Mount Rushmore.